Google Maps: Useful notification for commuters shows the current traffic situation with a preview image (screenshot)

The functionality of Google Maps has grown again in the recent past and now even includes dynamically generated menus for restaurants, but fundamentally it is still a map app with integrated route planning. Now some users are allowed to come back for a small but positive innovation. It informs commuters and travelers about the current traffic situation with a preview image.

In most cases, Google Maps knows very well where the user lives and where he works – this is the result of the collected user location data, but is also asked after some time when using the automatic recognition system. If you have stored this data, Maps keeps informing you about the current traffic situation and the approximate travel time. So far, one had to be satisfied with the text form, but now this information should be expanded by a preview image.

If desired, Google Maps will inform the user about how long it takes to get home or to work. Not only does it give you an estimated time of arrival, but it also informs you about the traffic situation – so far only in very short text form. Then you knew, though, if you can expect traffic jams, but could get detailed information only by opening the Maps app. That will not be necessary soon.

The first users can now extend the notification on Android and also see a small thumbnail with the entire route and the usual colors of the traffic jam indicator. So you can immediately see where the traffic currently stagnates. While this is likely to be in the same place most of the time when commuting, it should still help one or the other to plan a possible detour. Currently, this feature is only seen by a few users, but should probably be rolled out soon.
One can also assume that the preview image of the map after the rollout will have a different shape because the current square is looking kinda strange.